#Living in China as an expat

[lionheartlr]

Travel Guide to China: Everything You Need to Know

China is a land of contrast and wonder, offering a blend of ancient traditions, modern innovations, and natural beauty. Whether you’re exploring historic landmarks or vibrant cities, this guide will give you an essential overview to prepare for your journey. Brief History of China China’s history stretches over 5,000 years, marked by the rise and fall of dynasties. The most notable early…

[lisagiaandrews]

Moving to Shanghai - Ultimate Guide for 2023

If you can cross off 'moving to Shanghai' from your to-do list, then you have made a perfect decision. Whether you are a student or come to Shanghai for work, you will fall in love with this city. For those who plan to temporarily stay in Shanghai, we have various useful information and important things to do upon your arrival.

About Shanghai

Shanghai has approximately 20 million residents and is the largest city in China. Among all major cities in China, Shanghai has the highest quality of life.

Cost of living

When considering moving to Shanghai, one thing you should pay attention to is that the Cost of living in Shanghai may be relatively high. But we will discuss this in detail later, as well as another small drawback of Shanghai, which is finding affordable apartments.

Diversification

Shanghai is a vibrant and multicultural city, with many residents being expats. Many international companies have their headquarters in China located in Shanghai. This means there are many high paying jobs, which makes moving to Shanghai very attractive for many people.

Where to live in Shanghai

If you're wondering "Where do expats live in Shanghai?" Here are some popular communities: The Former French Concession is a great place for young people, single people or families. The neighborhood is tree-lined and has many shops, bars and restaurants. Jing 'an District - a very interesting neighborhood, similar to the former French Concession. Pudong New District - another great neighborhood. It is newer, has more modern and spacious apartments and is especially popular with families.

Nightlife

There are cool bars and many parks everywhere here. Shanghai has cultural and entertainment facilities, many museums, and various indoor and outdoor activities.

Get help

With our help, your new life in Shanghai will have the best start. With our help and first-hand information, you will soon settle down in Shanghai and fully enjoy this unique city.

A new beginning in life

If you are considering moving and living in Shanghai, or if you have already made a decision, you will definitely have a wonderful time in Shanghai.

[sashasemin28]

the thing about UK politics for me is that. like.

okay for context, i very rarely care about other countries politics not out of malice or ignorance but a third secret option, but i am more aware of uk politics than say moroccan politics because there have been three different occasions where i have almost moved to the UK. also colonalism but eh. so theyre like more of a thought experiment than anything else which is a pretty fucked up way to view politics but that's not really the point.

so the point is that i knew the UK and specifically England was going down a worryingly fascist tinged path guided mostly by xenophobia and racism. but it's very different to know that in theory and then fucking see the prime minister LITERALLY be like, one of my political goals is making it so that if you are here illegally you have no human rights. like. what the fuck. how the fuck did that happen. what the fuck!!

okay to be clear because i am neurodivergent and need to say this here so i can literally sleep easy. having a broad overview of the world and how it works and also like, most countries in the world politics and actively engaging in ways to be like and i know this is kind of a cliche thing to say a global citizen and offer allyship to people in different countries?? really fucking important! i really believe in that! kind of very different from what i mean here which is mostly about specific bills and policy and shit and history and social trends.

[starfieldcanvas]

as best I understand it, "settler" (in the pejorative sense) is an emergent property that only exists within any nation-state where some subset of the indigenous population legally or functionally has less ability to own the land they live on compared to the nation-state's preferred subgroup. if the indigenous population is neither legally nor functionally disempowered, then there are no settler-colonialists: there are only immigrants.

the solution to "being a settler everywhere you go" is not finding a homier homeland, it's dismantling the practice of discriminatory land management enforced by state violence.

‘Where, on planet Earth, would a Jew not be considered a settler?

This is a serious question, one to which I have yet to get a satisfactory response. I posted about it and a few joke replies arrived (“Florida”) but it does seem as if a lot of people are stumped.

We’re living in a moment when much of the left has embraced the idea that social justice is the global struggle against “settlers.” Whether actual Indigenous North Americans want this or not, this is what the self-righteous have honed in on. It’s a line of thought that predates the current war in Israel and Gaza, but that is, let us say, having a moment.

As an ostensibly progressive worldview, it poses some problems for Jews. And no, not just pro-Israel ones, or Jews who are for some reason rah-rah 19th century colonialism. If you’re meh on Israel, and think Jewish rootlessness is our cosmopolitan charm, and say to hell with ethno-nationalist homelands and whatnot, let us be citizens of the world, then more power to you, but good luck squaring this with a progressive movement that classifies everyone across the globe as either home, displaced from home, or invading someone else’s house.

This is why I’m going to have to say that I do think, in this case, language matters. Insisting on a global anti-settler movement is different from, for example, supporting Truth and Reconciliation. Demanding human rights and fair treatment is different from declaring some percentage of the population as occupiers based on their ancestry.

So I will repeat the question. Where is a Jew not—per these definitions—a settler?

In North America, all Jews who are not Indigenous—and that would be the vast majority of us—are settlers, according to the understanding that defines all such populations as such. Not just Jews whose ancestors literally settler-colonized Canada back in the day, but even those who arrived last week. (Syrian refugees in Canada: also settlers, by this definition.)

In Israel, according to anti-Zionist understandings, all Jews are settlers. Not just Jews living in the settlements. Not just Jews living in the post-1967-specific borders. An Israeli Jew in Tel Aviv is, by the understandings of those who think Israel itself it illegitimate, no matter its borders or leadership, a settler.

How about Europe, then? I have this vague recollection of something happening, 1930s-1940s-ish, where it was decided that Jews, long understood by many to be a foreign element (thus the antisemitic hurling of go back to Palestine), were extremely not in their own rightful homes when on that continent.

If a modern Jewish nation-state had, as some are furiously posting these days, been put in Europe, rather than ever so colonially in the Middle East (never mind the historical connection of Jews to that land, never mind Mizrahi Jews), that theoretical state would have displaced someone and would have been a settlement, and therefore unacceptable. “Settlers are not civilians. This is not hard.”

It’s even “settlement” when Jews are in our “native areas,” one is reminded, perusing the Wikipedia page of Birobidzhan.

Unable to settle in the areas they were from, some Jews were resettled within the former Soviet Union. How did that work out? Not great, but to stay on point, I have put certain words in bold: “Logistically and practically, settling Birobidzhan proved to be difficult. Due to inadequate infrastructure and weather conditions of the area, more than half the Jewish settlers who relocated to Birobidzhan after the initial settlement did not remain.”

It ought to be—it is—possible to care about currently or historically displaced peoples without dividing the world into those who have a historic right to live where they do, and those who are effectively gentrifiers (whatever their financial position) and should scram. The down-with-settlers approach is tricky for refugees generally, but is particularly weak when it comes to stateless ones, who show up, uninvited, and don’t even have a homeland to be sent back to. Jews at this point have a state, but a state that is itself often considered mere settlement.

There is nowhere on this planet that I could live without it being very problematic of me to do so. Which rather forces my position. As long as I’m alive, I have to occupy space somewhere.’

[centrepiecefurnishing]

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[blondebeardtheparent]

Captain’s Log

Star date 2024.02.14

Day 7

Today was not so good. I did not sleep well last night. I’ve got a nasty phlegm-cough thing going on that kept me up well past midnight. My morning started with a cheerful little face popping into the room holding a worksheet.

“Where are my phone-time worksheets?”

*Groan* “What time is it?”

“Worksheets?”

“On the piano.”

Fumble fumble, shuffle shuffle. “Worksheets?”

“On. The. PIANO!”

“Oh. Found it.”

From there, the morning just got weirder. The boys are excited because they got some new Minecraft mods with their New Years money, but the effect is that they are focusing their energy on phone time while neglecting their actual work.

After waking up so early, Isaac was a full twenty minutes late starting his class work. He dragged so badly with his journal that he got yelled at and warned that he would lose phone time. I need to think about this and come up with a solution.

Another drawback was that Simon was done with everything when it was journal time, so he amused himself by distracting his brother. I’m all for getting an early start, but if your early start actually results in a net loss of time, I’m not okay.

…

Simon just looked at me and snapped, “How much longer?”

I stopped the class and had a serious meeting with them warning them that if their early start to earn phone time results in this kind of attitude, they will lose it for the day. I understand the frustration of having a new game but not being able to play it, but work is work and play is play. Work hard first, play hard later.

[metamatar]

When electronics manufacturing took off in China in the 1980s, rural women who had just begun moving to the cities made up the majority of the factory workforce. They didn’t have many other options. Managers at companies like Foxconn preferred to hire women because they believed them to be more obedient [...]

Hiring a young, female workforce in India comes with its own requirements — which include reassuring doting parents about the safety of their daughters. The company offers workers free food, lodging, and buses to ensure a safe commute at all hours of the day. On days off, women who live in Foxconn hostels have a 6 p.m. curfew; permission is required to spend the night elsewhere. “[If] they go out and not return by a specific time, their parents would be informed,” a former Foxconn HR manager told Rest of World. “[That’s how] they offer trust to their parents.”

[...] the Tamil Nadu government sent a strong signal welcoming Foxconn and other manufacturers: Authorities approved new regulations that would increase workdays from eight to 12 hours. This meant that Foxconn and other electronics factories would be able to reduce the number of shifts needed to keep their production line running from three to two, just like in China. [...] Political parties aligned with the government called the bill “anti-labor” and, during the vote, walked out of the legislative assembly. After the bill passed, trade unions in the state announced a series of actions including a demonstration on motorbikes, civil disobedience campaigns, and protests in front of the ruling party’s local headquarters. The government shelved its new rule within four days.

Indian Foxconn workers told Rest of World that eight hours under intense pressure is already hard to bear. “I’ll die if it’s 12 hours of work,” said Padmini, the assembly line worker.

For the expatriate workers, the slower pace of the factory floors in India is its own shock to the system. A Taiwanese manager at a different iPhone supplier in the Chennai area told Rest of World that India’s 8-hour shifts and industry-standard tea breaks were a drag on production. “You have barely settled in on your seat, and the next break comes,” the manager lamented.

In China, Foxconn relies on lax enforcement of the country’s labor law — which limits workdays to eight hours and caps overtime — as well as lucrative bonuses to get employees to work 11 hours a day during production peaks [...] five Chinese and Taiwanese workers said they were surprised to discover that their Indian colleagues refused to work overtime. Some attributed it to a weak sense of responsibility; others to what they perceived as Indian people’s low material desire. “They are easily content,” an engineer deployed from Zhengzhou said. “They can’t handle even a bit more pressure. But if we don’t give them pressure, then we won’t be able to get everything right and move production here in a short time.” [...] At the same time, the expat staff enjoy the Indian work culture of tea breaks, chatting with colleagues, and going home on time. They recognize they are helping the company spread a Chinese work culture that they know can be unhealthy. [...]

On the assembly line, Foxconn’s targets were tough to reach, workers said. Jaishree, 21, joined the iPhone shop floor in 2022 as a recent graduate with a degree in mathematics. (With India’s high level of unemployment, Foxconn’s assembly line has plenty of women with advanced degrees, including MBAs.) [...] “At the start, during my eight-hour shift, I did about 300 [screws]. Now, I do 750,” she said. “We have to finish within time, otherwise they will scold us.” [...]

Mealtimes are an issue, too. In December 2021, thousands of Indian Foxconn employees protested after some 250 colleagues contracted food poisoning. In response, the company changed food contractors, and increased its monthly base salary from 14,000 rupees to 18,000 rupees ($168 to $216) — double the minimum wage prescribed by the Tamil Nadu labor department for unskilled workers. [...]

Working conditions take a physical toll. Padmini has experienced hair loss because she has to wear a skull cap and work in air-conditioned spaces, she said. “Neck pain is the worst, since we are constantly bending down and working.” She has irregular periods, which she attributes to the air conditioning and the late shifts. “[Among] girls with me on the production line, some six girls have this problem,” Padmini said. Workers said they regularly see colleagues become unwell. “The day before yesterday, a girl fainted and they took her to the hospital,” [...] Padmini, at 26, believes she is close to the age where the company might consider her too old. “They used to hire women up to age 30, now they hire only up to 28,” she said.

[tartlette1968]

It's really weird, as an Australian, watching the news from the US about TikTok and Rednote.

Australians don't see China the same way Americans do, but we do wish that they weren't so insistent on not being questioned. Australia has had expat Chinese people living here for about 200 or so years. Our countries have exchanged heated words on and off, and we have a well established trade relationship with China, but we also have some concerns. In short they spy on us, and we return the favour.

They drink or wine, eat our meat and lobster, and we buy their cars and phones. But it's more complex, and intertwined than that.

[gentil-minou]

Gentians on Doorways

Written for the @mdzsrbb and inspired by the beautiful artwork made by @wrecklwj !

“How were you and my mother…acquainted?” “Acquaintances? She was my best friend!" ~ After a decade of living abroad, Lan Zhan returns to China to sort through his mother's affairs after her death. There, he meets Wei Ying, his mother’s friend who she'd commissioned to illustrate a book of nursery rhymes. But Lan Zhan is out of his depth in a land that was once his home. After all, there's no step-by-step guide for when your mother dies.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Wakes & Funerals, Falling In Love, parental loss, Expat Lan Zhan, Artist Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, writing a funeral scene and trying to not make it accidentally horny aka the wangxian curse, just lots of feelings about moving away from your parents, and the fickleness of memories

Lan Zhan & Madam Lan + Wangxian | Complete | 33.7K | Rated T

Preview under the cut

The hallway seems to stretch into infinity, each click of the head teacher’s heels echoing through the vastness of space. A preposterous exaggeration, given that the feet that tread these walls belong primarily to small humans with smaller legs, and such a length would be impractical.

To Lan Zhan, in this moment, it’s the longest hallway in the world.

The head teacher gestures for him to follow her around the corner, as if Lan Zhan was like her young disciples and prone to getting lost in a singular hallway with no intersections. She’s younger than Lan Zhan had expected for a head teacher of an elementary school. She can’t be more than a few years older than him.

"Her classroom is just this way, south facing,” Haung-laoshi rambles, sending him another overly kind, pitying glance. “She loved that room. Lots of natural sunlight."

Lan Zhan nods absently, more out of politeness than true agreement. The light streaming in from the windows that line this hallway grates on his jetlagged state. His head is absent of most thoughts, only the inane recognition that south-facing windows must have meant her classroom would be sweltering and excruciating during a heatwave. Even now, the sun beats down on Lan Zhan, stifling in the late afternoon.

The windows face an inner courtyard. Distantly, Lan Zhan can hear the children laughing and playing, but much of it is drowned out by clicking heels on tiled floor.

He turns his head away from the glaring sun to the interior wall displaying a gallery of crudely drawn blocks and splotches of paint arranged unintelligibly on colored paper. A tiny placard next to each denotes the name of a kindergartener and the vision. Family pets, the playground, a favorite toy, a doting sibling.

A mother, her stick figure arms just out of reach of her stick figure child.

Hastily, Lan Zhan turns back to the endless hallway, where a wooden door seems to grow smaller and smaller as the walls expand outward impossibly so, like the distance is growing wider, not smaller, and clicking heels and laughing children run circles in his pounding head. Everything, from the rhythmic thumping of Lan Zhan’s shoes against tiled floors to the distant ringing in his ears, from the chipped paint along the baseboards to the glaring sunlight arcing overhead, pounds against Lan Zhan’s head like a stampede of charging elephants.

He should be running. Running and running, far and away before the stampede barrels over him leaving his body cracked and bruised in its wake. He shouldn’t be here. He should be anywhere but here.

Then, abruptly, the clicking of the heels ceases when Huang-laoshi stops in front of that wooden door, now a normal size and directly in front of Lan Zhan. A tiny frosted glass window rests above the doorknob in a vertical pane, with leftover pieces of tape missing the accoutrements they once secured.  A row of neatly painted purple flowers blooms through the wood on the bottom of the door, caught in motion as they dance in an unseen wind.

There is no wind to suggest this. He knows simply by looking at the brushstrokes, familiar swirls like the ones that once adorned the wooden doors of his childhood home. He can see it clearly in his mind’s eye, each stroke of a well-worn paintbrush and the subtle sighs of contentment when the artist in question lifted her brush and beamed back at him with pride.

“What do you think, ZhanZhan?”

This far away, the children’s roughhousing fades into the din leaving behind empty space.

Somehow, silence is worse.

“You must be so shocked. It was all so sudden…” Huang-laoshi remarks kindly as she retrieves a crumpled tissue from her pocket and dabs at the corners of her eyes. “I know I already said this, but I am so sorry for your loss.” She lifts a hand as if to pat his shoulder, but Lan Zhan takes a measured step to the side and her hand falls to rest by her side.

Outside, sunshine cascades through flowering trees and leaves speckled shadows dancing in the grass. A breeze slips in through the windows and winds through strands of Lan Zhan’s hair. The subtle scents of a summer on the rise, lying in wait for season’s change.

The breeze does little to soothe his heated skin. “Thank you,” Lan Zhan says politely with little inflection.

Huang-laoshi pauses, waiting for Lan Zhan to continue. But Lan Zhan has little more to say.

Ever since he’d arrived here, everyone seems to think Lan Zhan has something more to say.

What is there to say about his mother dying?

Read more on Ao3

[armandsdivorcelawyer]

@yekkes

Oh my god so glad you asked!!! There are many different types of Expat in Korea:

FB Rant Woman is who I’d classify as “First Time Minority.” There are many of these. They’re white people that usually believe that they now understand systemic oppression because they’re now a minority group in Korea and xenophobia exists. Probably doesn’t believe that they have white privilege in Korea.

Will say anything seemingly negative that happens to them is racism. Korean person not interested in having a serious relationship with expats that will most likely leave the country in the next 1-2 years? Racism. Korean person doesn’t understand their accent when they speak Korean (their pronunciation sucks)? Racism. It’s all racism. They understand now. Don’t you see, American Person of Color? Here, we’re the same 🫶🏽

Other types of expats are:

The Koreaboo

They love KPop and K-dramas and moved to Korea to find their oppar. This expat either has a Korean boyfriend who is an ugly loser or is attractive and clearly not taking the relationship as seriously as she is, or a revolving cast of Korean boyfriends that changes so fast you never can actually learn their names. You would warn her that most men looking to date foreign women are only really looking for casual relationships, but she’s insufferable so you don’t bother.

If she sees you on the street when she’s with her boyfriend, she’s going to glare at you even though he looks like a foot and is chronically unemployed. In her mind, you want him. And that’s all that matters.

She’s an English teacher, but she really doesn’t care about her job. Has an annoying social media presence with titles like “My KOREAN BOYFRIEND tries NEW YORK PIZZA for the FIRST TIME!!”

She posts on the FB groups about how her boyfriend won’t introduce her to his family. People try to tell her that, culturally, people in Korea don’t introduce partners unless they’re engaged and about to get married. She doesn’t get it.

The Loser Back Home

This person is usually a white man who for some reason could not cash into his white male privilege in his country of origin, so he came to Korea expecting Korean women to throw coochie at him simply because he’s white. The LBH fetishizes Korean women, and loathes non-Korean woman. He’s also insufferable.

Also an English teacher, not good at his job. Has lived in Korea for 10+ years and speaks little to no Korean. Sometimes has a Korean wife that you pray divorces him eventually. He usually relies on her to do everything because he refuses to learn Korean.

The “Why are You Still Here?”

This person has also lived in Korea for 10+ years and they HATE the country. They don’t like the food, the people, their jobs, the culture, everything. Chronically miserable.

You ask them why they’re still here, and they never have a straight answer. It’s implicitly understood that they’ve been living in Korea for most of their adult life, and don’t know what they’d do if they left. If they do leave, they’re going to a nearby country (probably Japan or China) to start the process all over again.

The College Student

This person is studying abroad for a semester. Commonly seen in Hongdae clubs. They’re 19 and they can drink legally in Korea and it’s about to be everyone’s problem!

This group has overlap with the Koreaboo.

The Military Man

This person is a man in the US military. He’s either looking to get married to someone after knowing them for 5 business days, or is cheating on their wife with whom they share 3 children (with one on the way!) Swears he gets tested regularly, but will give you an STI. If he’s been in Korea for years, he probably ended up on The Black Book fb group to warn women to not interact with him. (TBB got shut down because other women started leaking the information to the men listed in it, and they threatened to sue the moderators. RIP TBB you saved many a life.)

This person is reviled by everyone in the country, expats included, because he is a menace. He and his friends terrorize the innocent citizens of whatever poor city their base is closest to. Avoid at all costs.

The Traveler

This person hasn’t lived in their country of origin for years, and has mostly been jumping from country to country for adventure! They live in Korea because 1. It’s a nice place to live., 2. Relatively low cost of living, and 3. Close to other countries. A holiday is coming up? They’re going to Thailand. They got vacation days? They’re spending it in Vietnam.

Either very chill and interesting, or insufferable.

And finally; The Running Away from Something. (That’s me!!)

This person is living in Korea because for some reason they do not want to be in their country of origin.

Shitty family? It’s hard to keep in contact with a 12 hour time difference. Don’t know what they’re gonna do with their life? English teaching in Korea is a good gap year job to let you save and figure your shit out. Mentally ill? Oh you stupid bitch. Go make that appointment at the Itaewon International Clinic. DO IT NOW.

Is either staying 1-2 years, or ends up living there forever. No in between.

[polyhexian]

I don't know where else to go. As an American you spend your whole life talking about leaving, but where do you go?

At least the overstay on my visa has finally expired. Theoretically I can actually go to China again now. Not that I think it would be a particularly good idea for me.

In like 2016 when Trump was first elected it was on my mind. Even with the overstay I could hop in through Thailand or Mongolia with my contact's help. And as dangerous as it would have been for me to go back, I had an in. If I'd gone back I know I would have a bed and a job. Pretty confident I would STILL have that. I don't have that anywhere else. I don't know where I would go, who I would stay with, how I'd find work or afford a living. I already don't work; countries are not exactly motivated to take in an expat with nothing to contribute to, but a leech on services. I've had like three MRIs and two week long hospital stays and I'm past due for a third. Where do you go?

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Anonymous asked: Of all the many languages you speak which is your weakest one? Do you use those languages?

It’s privilege to learn any language that isn’t your mother tongue. As Ludwig Wittgenstein correctly observed, “The limits of my language means the limits of my world”. If English is our native tongue we put ourselves at a disadvantage because we expect every other nationality to take the trouble to speak it. There seems no incentive to learn a foreign language. We become lazy not just in language but also in other ways including our cultural enrichment, our imagination, and a misplaced sense of our self-importance in the world.

Of the European languages I know, I probably think German would be my weakest. When I was in school in Switzerland you’re brought up in three languages: French, Italian, and German (even if the Swiss speak Swiss German). When I say weakest I mean I can converse fluently, but I don’t have time to read German literature in the same immersive way I would say with French literature or take any special interest in German affairs.

I would say I’m fairly fluent in French now but still prone to silly mistakes. I’ve been told that I can speak without an accent and that is heart warming to know, because that was always the goal once I moved here to France. I don’t really use French in my work as it’s a multi-national entity and so English is the default language of corporate world, but I’m speaking French pretty much the rest of the time outside of work.

I was extremely fortunate to be born into a multi-lingual family where Norwegian and English were spoken from birth. All my siblings were being versed in Latin (not Greek which came years later after doing Classics at university) by the time I was 8 or 9 years old because my father was a classicist and he felt Latin was the building blocks to mastering other languages.

All this occurring whilst we moved lived and moved around a lot in the world such as China, Japan, India, and the Middle East. When I was initially sent to one of the first of my English girls boarding schools I was horrified that most of the girls only spoke English. I thought I was the stupid one for only knowing 6. Boarding school, if nothing else, gave me a great privilege to hone in on the languages I did know and start to learn others.

My parents didn’t take the easy way out and put us children in international schools like all the other expat children. That would have been too easy given how tight knit the British expatriate community was out there. Instead we were left to sink or swim in local schools in places like Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan or Shanghai in China or in Delhi, India. It was a struggle but you soon find your feet and you stumble towards some basic level of fluency.

I’m fortunate that before Covid my corporate work took me often to the Far East and it was a great opportunity to hone what I already knew. The result is I can converse and take business meetings in Chinese and Japanese (though English gets thrown into the mix too).

I would say Chinese is more of a struggle for me these days because I’ve not been back since before the Covid lockdown in 2020. Chinese is one of those languages that can easily melt away if you don’t get the chance to converse in it on a regular basis. Japanese less so, probably because the culture had more profound impact on me than Chinese culture.

Hindi is less of an issue because I have close Indian friends and also I watch Bollywood movies as well as converse with Indian immigrants here in Paris who have local stores. Urdu I learned through the backdoor because Urdu has a spoken affinity with Hindi (if you know Hindi then you know spoken Urdu, more or less, especially in Northern India and cities like Delhi where Urdu was born in the burnt ashes of Mughal India). Reading is another matter because they each use different scripts - Sanskrit for Hindi and Arabic and Persian script for Urdu.

Strangely enough when I was doing my tour in Afghanistan years ago with the British army, I would speak Urdu with local Afghans who served as official translators or were selling goods on the base. These Afghans knew Urdu because an entire generation of Afghan boys and girls grew up in refugee camps on the Pakistani border during the different phases of the Afghan war. I have very fond memories of their friendship and hospitality, but less so of the war itself. 

With Arabic, it had lapsed woefully until I did a posting in Dubai in the past year (as catalogued in my blog) and I found myself suddenly remembering a lot and asking Arab friends. Soon I was able to hold my own amongst my colleagues and corporate clients. In these cultures it’s really hard to stay focused because so many of them speak very good English. So it’s hard to get them to stick with their own language because you want to learn from them - but they want to show off their English proficiency - and so you have to be polite but persistent to stick with Arabic.  

If you’re learning a new language then I hope you stick with it. There’s almost nothing more rewarding in your life than the disocovery a rich culture through language. The key is to find a way to make it fun rather than a trip to the dentist chair for a root canal operation.

Thanks for your question.

[heffy1111]

°☆Cherry Unlimited ☆°

Own gg dr.

Debut: 20th March 2024.

Introduction: "Hello, we are Cherry Unlimited."

Concept: lovesick.

↳ Kprofile

Cherry Unlimited.

Cherry Unlimited profile and facts.

Cherry Unlimited ( ) is a ten member K-pop girl group originating in Seoul, South Korea. They are under the company Team Wang Korea. The group consists of ten members; Holli (홀리) Hayami (速水 / 하야미) Vivien (비비안) Lihua (梨花 / 리화) Shūhuì (淑惠) Mali (มะลิ) Pensri (เพ็ญศรี) Su-a (수아) Seo-yeon (서연) Ha-eun (하은).

Fandom name: pips

Official fandom colour: Deep red.

Socials:

Cherry_unlimited_ on insta and tiktok

WWW:https//Cherry_unlimited.//

No personal socials as of yet.

Member profiles:

Holli (홀리):

- born in Cymru Bach in Incheon to Welsh Expat parents.

- biggest idols in the industry are exo, mamamoo and nuest.

- started training at 17

- debuted at 21

- leader of cherry unlimited

- first trainee under the company ever.

- hates snakes (literal and metaphorical)

- helped CEO Jackson wang reorder his files. which led to the discovery of Hayami (速水 / 하야미).

Hayami (速水 / 하야미):

- born in Osaka, Japan.

- lived there until she was 15 when she moved to South Korea to try out for any talent agency possible with her background in ballet.

- gets scouted after two months by Team Wang Korea.

- trains for three years.

- debuts at 18.

- can do anything but focuses her talents on rapping.

- biggest idols are itzy and nct.

- really really hates mint ice cream.

- didn't know jackson wang was an idol in Korea before opening his talent agency. (He still is one in both China and Korea, so that's funny)

Vivien (비비안):

- born in Los Angeles to Vietnamese Parents.

- lived there until she was 18.

- came to Korea to train, and after 11 months, she debuted at 19.

- her idols included super junior (or well, they did until Holli provided a slideshow presentation on their controversies) so now she really likes Kard.

- she is a sub Vocalist and sub dancer.

- despises the sound of people obnoxiously chewing.

- big fan of GOT7. However, she was disappointed not to see her Bias Mark Tuan for the first few months.

Lihua (梨花 / 리화):

- She was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.

- Lihua has cited IU and Taeyeon as her biggest idols.

- Lihua trained for several years under different companies, which included time spent training in China and Korea.

- lihua is a powerhouse Vocalist.

- didn't know jackson wang had member and thought he was a soloist.

Shūhuì (淑惠):

- Shūhuì is known as the main rapper and sub-vocalist of Cherry Unlimited.

- She was born in Taichung, Taiwan.

- Shūhuì has mentioned CL of 2NE1 and Lisa from BLACKPINK as her biggest idols.

- Shūhuì is multilingual, speaking Mandarin, Korean, and English fluently.

- she debuted at 21.

- she really appreciates that Team Wang Korea as a label does not debut people who are too young.

Mali (มะลิ):

- She was born in Bangkok, Thailand.

- Mali has expressed admiration for Lisa from BLACKPINK and Sunmi

- Before debuting in cherry unlimited, Mali was a well-known dance cover artist in Thailand. Her dance covers of popular K-pop songs gained her a significant following, which eventually led to her being scouted and trained in Korea.

- she likes Korean food but maintains that spicy Thai food is better.

Pensri (เพ็ญศรี):

- She was born in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

- Pensri holds the position of lead dancer and sub-vocalist in KISS OF LIFE. She plays a crucial role in enhancing the group's choreography

- Pensri has a passion for traditional Thai dance and often incorporates elements of it into her choreography.

- she likes sticky mango rice

- idol used to be hyuna now she's her number one anti.

Su-a (수아):

- She was born in Seoul, South Korea.

- Su-a looks up to Taeyeon from Girls' Generation and IU

- Su-a has a keen interest in fashion design. She often experiments with styling and fashion in her personal life, and she enjoys incorporating her fashion sense into her stage outfits and public appearances.

- Su-a enjoys Korean comfort foods like bibimbap (mixed rice) and kimchi stew. She also has a fondness for sweet pastries

- debuts at age 20 after two years training.

Seo-yeon (서연):

- She was born in Busan, South Korea.

- Seo-yeon is a skilled calligrapher. She developed an interest in calligraphy during her school years and often uses it as a relaxing hobby

- her got7 bias is yugyeom

- Seo-yeon enjoys Korean barbecue and spicy noodles. She also loves tteokbokki

- Seo-yeon is the main rapper and lead dancer of cherry Unlimited.

- debuts after six months at age 22.

Ha-eun (하은):

- She was born in Gwangju, South Korea.

- Ha-eun admires Ailee and Hwasa.

- Ha-eun has a passion for photography. She often takes her own photos during tours and events

- Ha-eun enjoys Korean comfort foods such as kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) and sundubu jjigae (soft tofu stew)

- she is an all rounder and can do everything like Holli.

- she debuts at age 23, making her the oldest.

[beardedmrbean]

A Chinese man has been sentenced to death for fatally stabbing a 10-year-old Japanese schoolboy, in a case that sparked concern among Japanese expats living in China.

The sentence for the knife attack in the southern city of Shenzhen in September was handed down on Friday, according to Japanese media reports.

It comes a day after another court handed a death sentence to a Chinese man who attacked a Japanese mother and child and killed a Chinese woman who tried to protect them in Suzhou province in June.

The courts' decisions come as Chinese authorities carried out several high-profile executions in recent days.

The stabbings in Shenzhen and Suzhou were among three attacks on foreigners in China last year. Just days before the Suzhou incident, four US college instructors were hurt in a knife attack at a public park in Jilin in the country's north.

After the attack in Shenzhen, Japanese companies, including Toshiba and Toyota, told their staff to take precautions against any possible violence, while Panasonic offered its employees free flights home.

In the Suzhou case, a Chinese court said that Zhou Jiasheng, 52, had carried out the attack outside a Japanese school after he lost the will to live, following the loss of his job and subsequent debts.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters at a press conference that the court ruled that the attack was an "intentional murder" and the penalty was given due to the "significant social impact" the crime had caused.

However, the court made no mention of Japan during the ruling, according to Hayashi, who added that officials from the Japanese consulate in Shanghai had attended the sentencing.

Hayashi added that the crime, which killed and injured "innocent people", including a child, was "absolutely unforgivable".

He also paid tribute to Hu Youping, the Chinese bus attendant who was killed by Zhou while trying to protect a Japanese mother and her child.

Earlier on Thursday, Mao Ning, spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, briefly commented in a daily press conference that the case was "in judicial process", adding that China would "as always, act to protect the safety of foreign nationals in China."

China has been grappling with an uptick in public violence, with many attackers believed to have been spurred by a desire to "take revenge on society" - where perpetrators act on personal grievances by attacking strangers.

There were 19 attacks on pedestrians or strangers last year, a sharp increase from single digits in previous years.

On Monday, a man who killed at least 35 people in a car attack that is thought the be the country's deadliest attack in a decade was executed.

Last month, a man who killed eight people in a stabbing spree at his university was sentenced to death.

Additionally, in December, a man who injured 30 people by driving into a crowd of children and parents outside a primary school was handed a suspended death sentence.

[nerdby]

I checked out RedNote yesterday. It was cool until I saw a video made by a white expat living in China, telling UsAmericans not to talk about politics or queer rights. And it's like......Just the way he said it and the fact that the video had like 11,000 likes made me feel deeply uncomfortable even though I hadn't even said anything about my being queer. It just made me feel like I wasn't welcome there.

Other than that, everyone was perfectly nice.